These Questions and Answers come directly from a publication printed in the year 1879 by the American Sunday School Union.
It embraces a general and connected account of the most important
events recorded in the Bible. The desire is to reveal basic Biblical
truths without denominational bias...

As the author and past
teacher of several Catechism publications, I find this series of
Questions and Answers a delightful introduction to Bible Basics...

I have added the actual scriptural verses, so the reader may enjoy a fuller and richer study of this catechism...

P.S. The word "catechism" means to learn by questions and answers...

Basic Questions And Answers to the Old and New Testaments

Lesson 1

Q1 : What book should we prize above others?

A : The Bible

Q2 : Why?

A : One reason is because it tells us what GOD will have us to do

Q3 : What is the meaning of the word Bible?

A : It means BOOK; but it is used only for the sacred scriptures

Q4 : What proves that the Bible is from GOD?

A : It declares many things that GOD only could know

Q5 : What are the two great divisions of the Bible called?

A : The Old Testament and the New Testament

Q6 : How many books are contained in the Old Testament?

A : Thirty-nine

Q7 : How many in the New Testament?

A : Twenty-seven

Q8 : What is the first book in the Bible?

A : Genesis

Q9 : What is the meaning of the word Genesis?

A : Creation

Q10 : Of what does this first book give account?

A : Of the creation

Q11 : Who created the heavens and the earth?

A : GOD

Genesis 1.1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Q12 : When did GOD create them?

A : In the beginning

Q13 : What is here meant by the beginning?

A : When GOD began to create

Q14 : Of what did GOD create all things?

A : Of nothing

Genesis 1.2 "The
earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And
the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters"

Q15 : How long was GOD in creating all things?

A : Six days

Exodus 20.11 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy."

Q16 : What did GOD create on the first day?

A : Light

Genesis 1.3 "Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light."

Q17 : What did GOD say when He created light?

A : "Let there be light"

Q18 : What was created the second day?

A : The firmament

Genesis 1.6 "Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth."

Q19 : What did GOD create the third day?

A : Vegetables

Genesis 1.11 "Then
God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of
seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds
will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.”
And that is what happened"

Q20 : What did GOD create the fourth day?

A : The sun, moon and stars

Genesis 1.14-18 "Then God said, “Let lights
appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs
to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good."

Q21 : What did GOD create on the fifth day?

A : Fishes and fowls

Genesis 1.20-22 "Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So
God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries
and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring
of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

Q22 : What did GOD create on the sixth day?

A : Beasts, reptiles, and man

Genesis 1.24-27 "Then
God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing
offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along
the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God
made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able
to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings
in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea,
the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

Q23 : Who was the first man?

A : Adam

Genesis 2.19 "So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one."

Q24 : Who was the first woman?

A : Eve

Genesis 3.20 "Then the man - Adam - named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live"

Q25 : Of what did GOD form Adam?

A : Of the dust of the ground

Genesis 2.7 " Then the Lord
God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath
of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person."

Q26 : Where was Adam first placed?

A : In the garden in Eden

Genesis 2.15 "The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it."

Q27 : What was Adam forbidden to eat?

A : Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Genesis 2.17 "...except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

Q28 : What punishment did GOD threaten in case of disobedience?

A : That he should surely die

Genesis 2.17 "...except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

Q29 : Who tempted Adam to sin?

A : Eve

Genesis 3.6 "The woman was convinced. She
saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she
wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and
ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate
it, too."

Q30 : Who tempted Eve?

A : The serpent

Genesis 3.13 "Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Q31 : How did the serpent contradict GOD?

A : He said unto the woman, "You shall not surely die"

Genesis 3.4 "“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman."

Q32 : Who was the serpent?

A : Satan

Revelation 20.2 "He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years."

Q33 : Who was to bruise the serpent's head?

A : The seed of the woman

Genesis 3.15 "And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Q34 : Who is the seed of the woman?

A : Christ

Q35 : For whose sake did GOD first curse the ground, and cause it to bring forth thorns and thistles?

A : For the sake of Adam

Genesis 3.17-18 "And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains.